AerMet® 100, disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,087,415 and 5,268,044, which are incorporated by reference herein and made part hereof, is a commercial ultra-high-strength, non-stainless steel which does not require case hardening. The nominal composition of AerMet 100 is 13.4 Co, 11.1 Ni, 3.1 Cr, 1.2 Mo, 0.23 C, and balance Fe, in wt %. AerMet 100 shows a suitable combination of high strength and fracture toughness for aircraft parts and ordnance. Additionally, AerMet 100 shows an ambient 0.2% yield stress of 1720 MPa and a Rockwell C-scale hardness of 53.0-54.0, with KIc of 126 MPa√m. However, the alloying elements Co and Ni are rather costly, increasing the overall steel cost and constraining applications. Thus, there has developed a need for a steel with similar mechanical properties as AerMet 100 at a significantly lower cost.
HY180, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,502,462, which is incorporated by reference herein and made part hereof, is a commercial high-strength, non-stainless steel which does not require case hardening. The nominal composition of HY180 is 10 Ni, 8 Co, 2 Cr, 1 Mo, 0.13 C, 0.1 Mn, 0.05 Si, and balance Fe, in wt %. While the material cost of HY180 is lower than AerMet 100, due to the lower Co addition, the ambient 0.2% yield stress of HY180 is limited to 1240 MPa.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,358,577, which is incorporated by reference herein and made part hereof, discloses a high strength, high toughness stainless steel with a nominal composition of 12-21 Co, 11-15 Cr, 0.5-3.0 Mo, 0-2.0 Ni, 0-2.0 Si, 0-1.0 Mn, 0.16-0.25 C, at least one element selected from the group consisting of 0.1-0.5 V and 0-0.1 Nb, and balance Fe, in wt %. This alloy shows an ambient Ultimate Tensile Strength (UTS) of 1720 MPa or greater and an ambient 0.2% yield stress of 1190 MPa or greater. However, the ambient 0.2% yield stress of this alloy is limited to about 1450 MPa, and furthermore, the material cost is high due to the high Co addition.
Alloys disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,160,399 and 7,235,212, which are incorporated by reference herein and made part hereof, display ultra-high-strength, corrosion-resistant steels which do not require case hardening. The nominal composition of one alloy taught by the patents, branded as Ferrium S53®, is 14.0 Co, 10.0 Cr, 5.5 Ni, 2.0 Mo, 1.0 W, 0.30V, 0.21 C, and balance Fe, in wt %. Ferrium S53® exhibits an ambient UTS of about 1980 MPa and an ambient 0.2% yield stress of about 1560 MPa. The Kic of Ferrium S53® is limited to about 72 MPa√m, and the material cost is high due to the high Co addition.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,176,946, which is incorporated by reference herein and made part hereof, discloses a class of steel alloys comprising a case hardened mixture with a core composition of 15-28 Co, 1.5-9.5 Ni, 0.05-0.25 C, and one or more additives selected from 3.5-9 Cr, less than 2.5 Mo, and less than 0.2 V and the balance Fe, in wt %. The mixture taught by the patent is case hardened in the range of surface hardness greater than a Rockwell C-scale hardness of 60. The class of steel alloys taught by the patent is thus distinct from AerMet 100, in that it requires case hardening and also targets a much higher surface hardness. In addition, the material cost for the class of steel alloys taught by the patent is high due to the high Co addition.
The present alloy provides advantages such as ultra-high strength coupled with lower amounts of certain elements to thereby achieve lower cost. A full discussion of the features and advantages of the present invention is deferred to the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.